Bog-Loving Plants for My Greenhouse

November 11, 2024

If you're looking for an interesting and unique plant that's sure to stand out in your collection, consider a carnivorous pitcher plant.

Sarracenia, or the American pitcher, is a cold-hardy perennial native to the boggy areas of eastern coast of North America, from northern Florida through New England. The carnivorous plants are easy to grow in containers in a sunny location and eat an abundance of insects every summer. In autumn, they stop growing and go dormant, some even dropping the tall pitchers and then regrowing them in spring. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, potted two specimens, Sarracenia 'Conversation Piece' and Sarracenia 'Bug Bat,' in a container with peat moss, Perlite, sand, charcoal, and gravel to mimic a bog-like environment.

Enjoy these photos.

: Pitcher plants have special leaves shaped like hollow tubes, open on top. They feed on insects attracted to a sweet nectar-like scent that leads them down the tube where they are trapped and eventually digested.

: Sarracenia ‘Conversation Piece’ has slender lime green pitchers with red hoods and distinctive veining. Flowers appear in summer as tall, nodding blooms. In fall the pitchers turn burgundy with black veins.

: Pitcher plants love bog-like environments. Potted bogs can be made easily in containers without drainage holes and layers of coarse gravel for drainage, and a mix of peat moss and sand as the growing medium.

: Ryan selects a glass container that is at least 10 inches wide and several inches deep.

: This is Black River Gravel. Gravel helps create a more porous potting mix, which is important for preventing plant roots from becoming waterlogged.

: Ryan covers the bottom with an inch or two of the coarse gravel.

: Charcoal increases the fertility of mix, improves water retention, and helps prevent erosion.

: Ryan pours an even layer into the container over the gravel.

: In a trug bucket, Ryan combines two parts peat moss with one part horticulture sand and perlite. Peat moss is a brown, fibrous material that’s a combination of decomposed plant matter and organic debris that accumulates in wetlands.

: Sponge rock, also known by the name Perlite, decreases compaction of mix, increases aeration and helps to retain moisture. Sponge rock is a volcanic glass that expands when heated and becomes very porous.

: And lastly, Ryan adds a layer of horticultural sand.

: And then mixes everything up thoroughly…

: Here, Ryan adds the bog mix to the container.

: And spreads the even layer across the container leaving about and inch at the top.

: Carefully, he plants the bog-loving Sarracenia ‘Conversation Piece’ into the mix, ensuring the roots are covered.

: Here he is planting the other pitcher plant, Sarracenia ‘Bug Bat.’ It shows taller, more slender copper-colored pitchers topped with rounded, arching, reddish hoods.

: After planting, Ryan tamps down carefully to ensure good contact between the plant and the potting mix. The pot should remain consistently damp.

: Most bog plants thrive in partial sunlight, but check specific plant requirements. Ryan places the bog pot in an area that gets at least five hours of direct sun a day.

: Ryan gives it a generous drink. I have well water, but if needed, one can use distilled. Do you know the difference between a bog, a swamp, and a marsh? Marshes form near ponds and lakes. Reeds, grasses and other soft-stemmed plants grow there. Swamps have more trees and woody-stemmed shrubs. Bogs begin as shallow ponds that slowly fill with rotting leaves and plants. Then mosses and other plants grow spreading out across the surface.